Gambhir and Tendulkar lead India fightback

CAPE TOWN, Jan 3  - A grimly determined Gautam Gambhir and a serene Sachin Tendulkar took India to 142 for two at stumps on the second day of the deciding third test against South Africa on Monday.

After Jacques Kallis had struck a masterful 161 to lift the hosts to 362 all out, Gambhir survived three chances to reach 65 not out and Tendulkar showed all the experience of his 176 tests to get to stumps on 49.

The pair shared a vital third-wicket stand of 114 in nearly three hours after India had slumped to 28 for two shortly before tea, leaving the match in the balance as top-ranked India seek their first series win in South Africa.

Tendulkar's only scare came on 24 when left-arm spinner Paul Harris thought he had trapped him lbw but umpire Simon Taufel gave the batsman the benefit of the doubt with replays showing the ball would have hit the outside of leg stump.

It was another top-class display of batsmanship by test cricket's leading run-scorer who stroked five fours.

Gambhir and Tendulkar lifted India after Virender Sehwag (13) and Rahul Dravid (5) were dismissed inside the first 11 overs.

Gambhir edged a drive off left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe to gully, where Alviro Petersen was unable to hold a difficult diving catch. But AB de Villiers reacted quickly, sliding to stop the ball, quickly getting back to his feet and throwing down the stumps as Dravid attempted a quick single.

India earlier struggled to kill off the South African innings as the last two wickets added 79 runs with Kallis well supported by tailenders Harris and Tsotsobe.

The touring side looked set to bowl the hosts out when Shanthakumaran Sreesanth struck twice in his first over with the new ball.

Sreesanth bowled Ashwell Prince for 47 with a magnificent ball that jagged back sharply and the next delivery nipped away to have Mark Boucher caught behind for a golden duck.

Sreesanth added the wicket of Morne Morkel, caught behind for eight edging a wild drive, in a marvellous spell of three for 29 that gave him his third five-wicket haul in tests.

Zaheer Khan chipped in with the wicket of Dale Steyn, caught behind for a duck, but Harris hung around as 27 runs were added for the ninth wicket.

Kallis and Australian Ricky Ponting have scored 39 test centuries, joint second on the all-time list behind Tendulkar who has 50.

Khawaja sparkles before Ashes rain arrives

Usman Khawaja shone like a beacon amid the gloom of Australia's uncertain batting then spoke stoutly in defence of his embattled captain Michael Clarke after day one of the fifth Ashes Test against England at the SCG.

Given a useful start by Shane Watson and Phil Hughes, Khawaja (37) demonstrated the technique and touch of an accomplished international batsman, nevermind a 24-year-old debutant.

But the loss of stand-in captain Clarke (four) for yet another slim score turned things towards England, and Khawaja's exit slid Australia to 4-134 from 59 overs when the rain finally set in.

Much rests on Mike Hussey (12no) to scramble a reasonable total on a pitch that will improve before it deteriorates.

Clarke has a dismal 152 runs at 19 for the Ashes series and 326 at 20.37 in nine Tests since moving up the order to No.4 in mid-2010.

However Khawaja was glowing about Clarke's handling of him and the rest of the team as he stands in for Ricky Ponting, who will undergo surgery for a fractured finger on Tuesday.

"Pup's been awesome, if there was any pressure on me he's been taking it right off just making me feel well at home," said Khawaja.

"He sent me a text last night that said it doesn't matter whether you get a golden duck or 400, it'll still be the best day of your life.

"He's just been very good at making me feel comfortable and that's all I can ask for from a skipper on my debut."

Pacemen Chris Tremlett (1-40), Tim Bresnan (2-47) and Jimmy Anderson (0-34) delivered some prancing stuff in helpful conditions, while Graeme Swann (1-6) chimed in to deceive Khawaja on the sweep.

Hughes (31) had shown some promising touch but will look upon the innings as another failure - he has been unable to reach 50 in five innings for the series.

Tremlett gained some appreciable lift and seam movement early on, sending a handful of deliveries whizzing over Watson's stumps.

Runs were cuffed by Hughes through point and cover, and the 50 stand was raised.

Lunch was called when Hughes dropped his guard and snicked Tremlett, but the break served to offer Khawaja the chance for a dramatic entrance.

His first impressions could not have been more striking, pushing two through midwicket first ball then firing a regal pull shot off his second to send his home crowd of 43,561 into raptures.

It is no exaggeration to say that Khawaja's first few runs offered as much promise as those of any new Australian batsman of the past decade.

Watson left the ball well but again should have been capable of going on to better things when he pushed at Bresnan and edged to slip.

Clarke fared little better with the captaincy than he had without it, skewing a cut shot into the gully to conclude a sketchy stay.

Having prospered against pace, Khawaja was undone by spin, miscuing to square leg.

He would have been doubly frustrated when he was soon joined by Hussey - the rain returned before another ball could be bowled.

"You never want to get out especially the last ball of the day as it turned out to be, so it's unfortunate, I would've loved to be not out overnight but that's cricket," Khawaja said.

"I had a ball out there, I was having so much fun while I was out there, I just wanted to stay out there as long as I could, I didn't want to come off.

"It was a good start and it got all of the anxiousness out of my system."

Ashes, 5th Test: Watson, Khawaja consolidate

Sydney: Chris Tremlett dismissed Phil Hughes in the over before lunch on Monday to give England's attack a wicket it earned through perseverance in the opening session of the fifth Ashes cricket Test against Australia.

The Australian openers batted with determination and caution to move the total to 55 without loss going into the 30th over before Tremlett had Hughes caught at third slip by Paul Collingwood for 31 three balls before the scheduled end of the session.

Shane Watson was unbeaten on 19, with Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja set to start his first Test innings the first ball after lunch.

England has already retained the Ashes after taking an unbeatable 2-1 lead with an emphatic win in the fourth Test at Melbourne last week, but is aiming for its first Test series win in Australia since 1987.

Michael Clarke won the toss — his first as stand-in captain for injured Ricky Ponting — and decided to bat despite gloomy, overcast conditions expected to favour seam bowlers.

The England attack duly tied down the Australians for the entire session and although Tremlett troubled both openers, the bowlers weren't rewarded with any genuine chances in the first 29 overs as Hughes and Watson defended with discipline.

But just when it looked like the perfect, gritty start Clarke had urged of his lineup, Tremlett tempted Hughes with a short ball and the 22-year-old Australian feathered a head-height catch to Collingwood.

It was Hughes' highest score of the series — he was called up for the Perth Test to replace injured Simon Katich and hadn't made it past 23 in four innings.

He survived a few half chances before stroking consecutive boundaries against Tim Bresnan in the 13th over, playing and missing one delivery before driving the next to the long-on boundary and cutting the subsequent ball past point in a rare flurry of run scoring in the first hour.

Khawaja, given his debut after six months on the fringes when Ponting was ruled out due to a broken finger, will be tested early on his home turf at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The leading batsman in Australia's domestic competition in the last two seasons is one of two players making their Test debut for Australia in Sydney. Left-arm spinner Michael Beer was picked as the slow bowler despite having only seven first-class matches to his credit.

Kallis leads South Africa recovery

Cape Town: Jacques Kallis hit his 55th Test half-century to guide South Africa through difficult batting conditions to 232-4 at stumps on day one of the third Test against India on Sunday.

Kallis anchored the innings with his 81 not out after the home team was put into bat in the series decider under heavy cloud cover at Newlands.

The hosts slipped to 34-2 before Kallis shared half-century partnerships with Hashim Amla (59) and AB de Villiers (26), and an unbeaten stand of 68 with Ashwell Prince (28 not out).

Top-ranked India had troubled South Africa's batsmen on a seaming, swinging pitch as Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma struck early.

S Sreesanth had 2-70 on an opening day when play was interrupted twice by rain.

England chase series win in final Test

Sydney: Buoyant England will go into the final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday intent on wrapping up their first series triumph in Australia for nearly quarter of a century.

As holders, Andrew Strauss's team are already guaranteed to keep hold of the Ashes after thumping Australia by an innings and 157 runs in the fourth Melbourne Test to take a 2-1 series lead with just one match to play.

But despite England's dominance throughout most of the series, the home side can still pull level at 2-2 under stand-in skipper Michael Clarke if they can turn around their miserable form and win in Sydney.

Strauss is aware that the tourists still have work to do as they seek to become the first English team since Mike Gatting's men in 1986/87 to win a series Down Under.

"Winning the Ashes in Australia has always been a bit of a Holy Grail for English sides," Strauss said. "Our objective was to come out here and win the series, so we haven't achieved that yet.

"It's very reassuring to know that the Ashes are going to remain in England for the next couple of years, but it would leave a very sour taste if we weren't able to go on and convert our position into a series win in Sydney."

England outplayed Australia in all departments at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to highlight the sorry state of Australian cricket.

Clarke will replace the injured Ricky Ponting and lead Australia for the first time at Test level in Sydney.

X-rays revealed that Ponting had further damaged a fractured little left finger suffered earlier in the series while playing in the fourth Test.

Ponting's absence in Sydney could dampen incessant speculation over his Test future.

"I'm honoured. It's for this Test match and hopefully we can get Punter (Ponting) right as soon as possible," Clarke said.

"No doubt (England) are playing really good cricket but it's a great opportunity for us. It's a huge Test match."

Ponting's setback has also created an opportunity for Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja, 24, to become the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia and he is likely to bat at number three in the absence of Ponting.

"I'm not here to fill Ricky Ponting's shoes, I'm going to go out there and try and do the best I can," Khawaja said.

"To replace 12,000 runs is a big feat and I still haven't scored any.

The Australian team also view the Sydney Test as their big chance to pay back their disillusioned fans after two heavy defeats in Adelaide and Melbourne.

"We have to try and restore some pride. The Australian fans have come out to support us and we really haven't given them anything to support," opening batsman Shane Watson said.

"We really have to go out there in Sydney and try to keep some of our supporters and fans onside, because unfortunately the way we've played we might have turned a few people off, so we are going to have to restore that."

England's huge 225-run victory in 2003 is the only time Australia have lost at the SCG since 1995.

The SCG pitch is renowned for taking spin, with Shane Warne taking 64 of his wickets there and fellow leg-spinner Stuart MacGill 53, and offers a chance for England off-spinner Graeme Swann to play a prominent role in the final game of the series.

But the weather may prove an obstacle with showers forecast for the first four days.

The first match of the series, in Brisbane, was drawn, with England winning the second Test in Adelaide by an innings before Australia hit back to take the third Test in Perth by 267 runs.

Ind-SA: series win within India's grasp 

 

New Delhi: It has been an incredible year for Team India and skipper MS Dhoni. The Durban win earlier this week ensured that India retained its position as the No. 1 Test team and that it ends 2010 unbeaten in a Test series.In fact, Dhoni's run as skipper has been an impressive one with the Indian team remaining unbeaten in a record nine consecutive series, something that started with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008

Despite his poor luck with the toss in 2010 where he lost 12 of the 13, Team India and the skipper have regularly seized the moments to show just why they deserve to be ranked at the top. And nothing would make it bigger than by winning the Test series against South Africa with the final Test starting in Cape Town on Sunday.

Despite all the debate about the kind of wickets prepared, the use of the Umpire Decision Review System or in this series the lack of it, Graeme Smith's frequent voicing of his doubts of India's top notch position, and even an allegation that umpire Steve Davis was drunk, Team India have come out trumps.

The turnaround in Durban, which has not been a happy hunting ground in the past, after the big loss in the first Test in Johannesburg is a testimony to the players' mettle. The win has put South Africa in more than just a spot of bother. Having frequently chocked at the bigger stage over the two decades of their return to the international fold, the South Africans are in danger of losing the series if they cannot wrest back the initiative on day one itself.

The toss is again expected to play an important role in Cape Town. While the pitch is said to provide more assistance to the batsmen, early moisture could prove to a handful for the batsmen at the top of the order.

Even though Virender Sehwag has already been ruled out of the ensuing ODI series because of his nagging shoulder injury, he should be fit enough to see India through at the top in the final Test. A solid start will be required if India lose the toss again and are put into bat to avoid the capitulation one saw in Johannesburg.

India's bowlers too will be looking at the wicket closely and a Durban encore will be widely appreciated. Zaheer Khan's return in the second Test, having missed the first due to an injury, was just the shot in the arm the team needed. He set the agenda early on and all the other bowlers chipped in nicely.

S Sreesanth has always provided for a picture postcard moment in South Africa. In the previous series, it was his dance that captured the imagination after he had hoicked Andre Nel for a six. And in this series his peach of a delivery to get rid of Jacques Kallis was probably his best delivery ever. Another moment surely awaits the fans in Cape Town.